Pizza competition heats up in cold Canada

Jan. 16, 2005

The Toronto Globe and Mail: After two decades of rapid growth in the 1970s and 1980s, North American pizza sales began to slow during the 1990s, but the rate of new pizzeria openings kept climbing. Now, like a group of hungry 10-year-olds right after hockey practice, the industry's biggest players are jostling to grab a bigger slice of the pie, says John Correll, a pizza-industry veteran and industry consultant, based in Canton, Mich.

The challenge now facing the industry: Adapt or die.

According to statistics compiled by trade publication Canadian Pizza magazine, more than 8,000 restaurants serve pizza in this country, ringing up annual sales of about CAN $4-billion (U.S. $3.3 billion) -- representing nearly 10 percent of the total food-services industry.

"Everybody is looking at an angle to outdo their competitors," said Jon Prinsell, the president of YUM Restaurants Canada, the parent of the Pizza Hut chain.